Bicyclists To Ride From Austin Capitol For Missing Children's Day

AUSTIN, TX — The Austin Police Department's Motors Unit will escort about 20 bicyclists from the state Capitol to a local elementary school to observe Missing Children's Day on Friday, officials said.

The caravan will start off at the Capitol grounds and make its way to Oak Hill Elementary School, 6101 Patton Ranch Rd. some ten miles away to call attention to missing children in an event dubbed the Texas Ride for Missing and Exploited Children.

Riders will stop for about 30 minutes at the softball field on Robert E. Lee where students are scheduled to greet them with banners and flyers before bicyclists begin the second leg of their journey to the Austin Beer Garden Brewing Company at 1305 W. Oltorf.

Related story: National Missing Children's Day: Find Lost Austin Kids

Motorists will not be able to pass the riders, but traffic will be released as intersections are cleared, police said. The purpose of the ride is to raise awareness for the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an event 22 years in the making observed in five area cities. For more information about the ride, click here.

National Missing Children's Day on Friday seeks to reunite children and their families. In Texas, at least 489 children have been reported as missing since 1994. At least 16 kids who disappeared from Austin are still missing.

Police released maps of the bicycle journey:

FIRST LEG OF THE ROUTE

Right on 11th St. - Right on Colorado St. - Left on W. 13th St. - Right on Lavaca St. - Right on E. Martin Luther King Blvd. - Left on Trinity St. (Turns into San Jacinto) - Left on E. 30th St. - Left on West Dr. - Left on Fruth St. - Right on W. 29th St. - Left on Salado St. - Left on W. 26th St. - Right on Nueces St. - Left on W. 24th St. - Right on Guadalupe St. - Right on W. Riverside Dr. - Left on S. Lamar Blvd. - Right on Toomey St. - Left on Sterzing St. - Right on Barton Springs Rd. - Left on Robert E. Lee - Right on Barton Hills - Left on Barton Skyway - Right on Westhill Rd. - Left on Westrock Rd. - Right on S. Lamar Blvd. - Left on Panther Trail - Right on Keats - Right on Prather - Left on Victory Dr. - Right on Western Trails - Right on Westgate Blvd. - Left on W US Hwy 290 Service Rd. - Right on Parkwood Dr. - Left on School Rd. - Left on Patton Ranch Rd.

SECOND LEG TWO OF THE ROUTE

>>> Uppermost image via Shutterstock